When traveling with a child, there are a variety of situations where the child will be in a seated position, for example in a restaurant or in a shopping cart. It may be desirable to restrain the child in such a seated position for safety reasons (i.e., to prohibit the child from falling out of the seat). Accordingly, may be necessary to provide a restraining apparatus on various forms of seats when a child is sitting in them.
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical restaurant highchair 102 may include some type of permanently attached restraining harness 104 and/or a rail 106 that extends over the legs of a child to keep the child from falling out. However, a rail 106 does not always prohibit the child from getting out of the seated position. For example, a small child may slip through a space between the seat 108 of a highchair and the rail 106. As another example, a larger child may stand up and exit the highchair over the rail 106.
Restraining harnesses 104 for children are typically permanently attached to the highchair, and/or specifically designed for a particular usage or type of seat. Even if a highchair includes a restraint, the restraint is frequently broken. For example, restraints may have broken bayonet clips or nylon webbing may be damaged from repeated use. This presents an unsafe situation for a child. Repair kits exist for highchairs, but they require tools to replace the straps, making it time consuming and impractical for consumers to safely secure their child.
Restraining harnesses that are permanently attached to a seat and used frequently by the public are subject to a lot of abuse as parents may be ambivalent to proper usage and care of the harness. Typical high chairs in public spaces may be stored haphazardly and knocked one against another creating an ideal situation where breakage of plastic connectors can occur. Improper cleaning may create a situation where buckling or clips may not operate correctly and/or may be unsanitary.
There is therefore a need for a portable and/or removable child seat restraint that is adjustable to fit a variety of seat types and a variety of individual children. It would be desirable if such an apparatus was lightweight and easily stored with existing equipment used in support of a child, such as but not limited to a diaper bag.